Lesson Learned

Though professing a terror of bats, she let things go last fall when she saw some bats fluttering around her house as she was doing yard work. Besides, the family doesn’t use the attic and none had entered her living quarters.

She thought they’d die off over the winter, or go away on their own. Neither of those happened.

So, when she noticed bat droppings – guano – on her roof this spring, she called Norris at Nuisance Wildlife Trapper.

“I was impressed with the way he spoke with me, 20 or 30 minutes talking about the problem,” Hanlon said.

She guessed that she had about 30 bats at her house.

“He said ‘It’s not a bad infestation,’ but I said one was way too many for me,” she recalled.

Norris has seen homes invaded by several hundred bats.

Worth Every Dollar

While the bat removal services don’t come cheap – maybe $1,000 for an average household – both Hanlon and the homeowner were satisfied.

The Palmetto man­ – who wanted to remain anonymous – found peace of mind.

“The most nerve-wracking part was them coming down into the home,” he said. “It makes it a little shaky when you sleep. It gives you concerns, it definitely does.”

Besides, he said, “They weren’t paying any rent.”

Norris respects living creatures.

“Bats are very beneficial,” he said.

“You just don’t want them in your attic. And it’s illegal to kill any kind of bats.”